It is a big change from the advice parents have been given in the past, but new health guidelines suggest that parents give their children foods containing peanuts early and often. In fact starting on peanuts when they're still infants has been shown to help avoid life-threatening peanut allergies later in life.

The new guidelines, issued by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on Thursday, suggests giving babies ground-up food containing peanut powder or peanut extract, even before they are 6 months old. Even young babies can be given peanut puree if a child has shown other allergies and doctors say it is safe to do this. Of course young children should never be given whole or chopped peanuts as these can cause choking.

The new guidelines could see the end of the peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich banscommonly seen in many schools "If we can put this into practice over a period of several years, I would be surprised if we would not see a dramaticdecrease in the incidence of peanut allergies," said Dr. Fauci, the institute's director. He added that the changes could bring about a huge fall in the number of children who develop the common and dangerous allergy to peanuts.

Peanut allergies cause more deaths from constriction of the airways than any other food allergy. Deaths are not common, but children who develop a peanut allergy usually do not outgrow it. They must be careful to avoid peanuts for the rest of their lives.

Experts advise that foods containing peanuts should not be the first solid a baby eats. It's also important to continue feeding peanut-containing food regularly, aiming for three times a week, throughout childhood to make sure allergy does not develop later. For children who are allergic to other foods, the experts advise seeking the advice of a doctor before beginning peanut-feeding to youngsters.